Do I need a new Contactor?

[TreyY]

Hey there again, After finally getting my thermostat to work I believe that my contactor is no good. If I connect nuetral to one side and 120V to the other it makes a buzzing noise but I don't here it making a click noise. When I wired it in with my thermostat and to my oven it did not send power to my elements.

Is there some other way to test a contactor? Thanks for the help, Trey.

[krusty2111us]

On the B-52 Bomber, sometimes we would have continuity, but no amps(push), but that's 28 VDC.
Anyways,
Inspect the connector and terminal for corrosion. If either is corroded they should be cleaned or replaced.

There are two types of relays, wire coil and solid state. If the relay has an exposed wound wire coil it can be tested for continuity. Otherwise, the relay is a solid state design requiring special testing equipment. With a multi-meter you can ohm out the coil, if you know what the ohms and or limits are supposed to be. If you're positive it's getting good "signal" power from the thermostat, and you've got 110 input power, then if it's not sending the power to the elements "clicking", it's a dead relay.

[Banditperformance]

You should be able to tell if the contactor has pulled in or not. There should be a button like thing on the face of it, that you can manually push it in. You can see if it has electricaly pulled in by this button. What contactor is it? do you have a picture?

[TreyY]

yeah, I'm pretty sure that I fried my contactor when my 240V wasn't hooked up right (Just because your friend once knew how to do electrical work, doesn't mean they still know how) but its no biggie Ill buy another one.

Thanks for the help though, I got my thermostat wired right and it works perferctly.

[supermatty]

My contactor makes a buzzing noise occasionally. It is a 40A one, and all of the connections are tight. Is this normal? It seems to cycle on and off just fine. Once in awhile it will buzz.

[Banditperformance]

Yes buzing can be normal fro a contactor. Its not the large contacts buzzing but the magnetic coil that is operating the switch. If it is real loud however, could mean that the coil is getting weak

[JTW37]

Yep, Bandit is right, it will click on and off and it will buzzzzz and whine and make a few noises, then it's working.